Mother take note! Babies sleep better in their own room

Hauck, who helped draft the pediatrician association's guidelines, cited benefits of room-sharing: Research suggests it reduces the risk of SIDS, helps encourage breast-feeding, and provides "peace of mind for parents as they can keep a closer watch on their baby and be nearby to comfort the baby", she said.

Babies may not get as much sleep in their parents' bedrooms as they do in a room of their own, and they may also be more likely to go to bed in conditions associated with an increased risk of sleep-related deaths, a small USA study suggests. To decrease the chances for SIDS, the AAP advised that at infants should be at least six months old, and ideally 12 months, in the same bedroom, but not in the same bed.

"Bed-sharing is strongly recommended against and therefore it is important that a recommended practice (i.e., room-sharing) not lead to a practice that is associated with greater potential harm (i.e., bed-sharing)", Moon said.

At four months, children who slept independently in their own room averaged 45 minutes longer stretches of continuous sleep than those who shared a room with a parent.

A new study claims that babies over four months old sleep longer if in their own room. "Studies done on SIDS are done across the first year, and they found no difference between room sharing and independent sleeping once the babies got past 120 days, or four months", he says.

As was pointed out in a commentary accompanying the study, early "sleep consolidation", or sleeping many hours at once, isn't necessarily a good thing. Image credit: Babyboxco.com " This is important information", said Dr. Rachel Moon, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia who co-authored the latest recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics, according to CNN.

A year of room-sharing also seems excessive to Paul and other parents, who may be unsure of when to transition an infant to his or her own bedroom, he added. The researchers found that they were also more likely to sleep with objects like pillows, blankets or stuffed animals. This could lower the risk of SIDS said the AAP. Poor infant sleep has also been linked to behavioral issues or childhood obesity.

Study limitations included the use of data from a randomized controlled trial with two interventions, as well as the correlational findings which may have prevented determination of causal effects. As much as it can feel like an eternity of being woken at night, the fact is that over time, mostbabies learn to sleep through the night and give their parents a break.

The American Academy of Pediatrics Safe to Sleep Campaign suggests that no soft bedding - including bumpers - be used in cribs.

Breastfeeding has also been linked to a lower risk of SIDS.

Researchers admitted that this was a small scale study and was not representative of the whole population and also ended up with most participants being white and more than half having a family income of $75,000 or more.